Reviews with content warning for Outing - Stay Gold

Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

52 reviews

whosfernn's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I knew almost nothing about this book when I picked it up. Looking at the cover and the blurb, I assumed it would be a cute coming-of-age romance. What it actually is is probably the best, most moving tale of a trans boy I've ever read. It's a very realistic look at the trans experience, especially how it can be to be trans in southern America. Beautiful. One of my favourites, probably my favourite read of 2023 so far. Please read this book.

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journey2's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

Sometimes I need to take my own advice. If you are not loving a book...it's okay to quit it. And you probably should.
But I wanted to see how it ended.

~☆~ minor spoilers~☆~

Stay Gold was not a good read for me. I found this book frustrating. The characters annoyed me and everyone seemed extremely superficial.

Pony is relentless about the "friend zone" thing with Georgia. She continues to say no to his advances and he continues to pursue. Yes, she likes him, but she has clearly said no and he will not give up and keeps asking for more; including love bombing her with a grand gesture, until he can eventually win her over.

Our main love interest, Georgia, is so obsessed with her image and social standing right til nearly the end and her change of heart is supposed to be endearing, but by the time we got there I was just so tired of how fake she was.

I know that in high school everybody's figuring out who they are and who they want to be, but absolutely every character was so fake and two dimensional. In the end, superficial apologies and excuses like "it's just locker room talk" etc seem to 'fix' every off-colour comment or remark. Pony's dad was absolutely horrible to him throughout the entire book and his mom was kind of just complacent and didn't fight for him. A couple sentences at the very end of the book are supposed to redeem him but they just felt forced. Even though lots of things ended up being happy or at least happier, I found this book extremely problematic, frustrating and annoying and I do not recommend it.

I'm curious as to what the purpose of the storyline about Pony's job served. It didn't really go anywhere except to allow Pony to be nosy and intrusive into somebody else's business and then he got to have a warm fuzzy feeling afterwards. On that note, Pony continued to stick his nose into business that is not his own and it was very annoying. There was a time when Pony and Georgia stuck their noses into something so personal that I actually took time away from the book because I was exasperated. He was rewarded for it eventually, but it was annoying to read.

This book was 100% not for me and was just completely filled with red flags.
I could go on, but I won't!

Also it's list of trigger warnings is a mile long

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stailysh1's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I think this book is great for what it is. It reads like it was the author's high school fantasy, but in the case of this book, I believe that's excusable because this book could really help a lot of people who need it. It shows the mentality behind being both in and out of the closet and focuses on visibility. The ending kind of pushes being out and visible, which I find challenging because that is not safe or desired by everyone who is part of the LGBT+ community, especially transgender individuals. The main characters are generally lovable and funny, and work through their flaws and grow together. All in all, it's an enjoyable and (mostly) light read that should be taken for what it is: a YA LGBT+ novel with a happy ending.
**Please read the content warnings before diving into this book.**

Content Warnings

rebecca_simard's review against another edition

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Loveable characters? No

3.0

DNF at 146. I wanted to like this book, the setting of a high school romance is a classic for a reason and I'm a sucker for any LGBT representation that was lacking in my own youth, especially when written by queer authors, but this one just didn't do it for me.
For starters, the characterization is abysmal, this might improve throughout the book but by 1/3rd of the way in we should have at least a few likable characters. The female lead suffers from "not like other girls" symptom, being the cheerleader who secretly is into important things like reading and journalism. Good basis for a character but it is used as a way to show how she is better than the other girls. Not a fan. The male lead has some internalized misogyny when it comes to her "not like other girls" isms as well. How exciting is it that there's actually a cheerleader worth his time and who isn't an idiot? While the best friend, Max, did not make a lot of appearances so far, reviews suggest that he is also a prominent character and his only scene so far had me cringing.
This leads to my next point, that the dialogue is bland and filled with long outdated phrases and references to try and sell the youth of the characters, obvi girl, 10 pride flag emojis. This is both emersion-breaking and difficult to read.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the plotline of a trans character being pressured by their support network to come out because not doing so is dishonest is concerning. Trans people do not owe anyone a description of their genitals as a means to promote honesty. One's medical history is theirs and theirs alone to disclose. I hope no trans or queer youth feel pressured by this rhetoric.
In summary, I had high hopes and I hope that the author continues to write as trans voices are vital, now more than ever. The blurb is good, showing that McSmith has good stories to tell. I hope they refine their characterization and writing style and move away from the overdone at best and problematic at worst pressure to come out stories. It's a good premise, but the execution needs work.

Content Warnings

sage_alexandra's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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elskabee's review against another edition

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funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

It's hard to say much about this book because it's painfully generic. Like almost every teen romcom trope feels like it's here except one of the main characters is trans. Buuuut being really stereotypical doesn't make it bad, just not a standout. I laughed at a decent amount of the jokes and the characters are complex and I was rooting for their relationship.

I'd say please check for trigger warnings especially to do with transphobia and suicidal ideation. This book has a happy ending and for most of it a fairly light tone but it's not exactly cosy. It is about queer youth in Texas after all.

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katieduffy151's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A great book to highlight the significant daily struggles of trans youth and what is unfortunately an all too common experience. The book is quite joyful and light-hearted at the beginning but a warning is needed because takes a drastic turn toward the end with incredibly violent scenes but I understand why it was included.

I would maybe suggest that this is a really insightful book for cisgender people to read in order to more fully understand the struggles of trans people (particularly teenagers), but a warning that it might be very triggering for those who are trans. I would like to think there are better books out there to read that highlight trans joy and love.

I still maintain Pony deserves better than Georgia. I also felt uncomfortable that his friend wouldn't respect his decision to go stealth given the potential safety risks, but I understand the issue of visibility is a complex one.

Content Warnings